5 1/4 Foot Tall Bi-Pedal Exoskeleton – You Know, For Kids!

Many, many moons ago we brought you news of the Land Walker bi-pedal personal robot suit from Japanese company Sakakibara Kikai. Over the years it has served as a popular promotional tool for the company, and many people have had the chance to hop in the driver’s seat, except for kids. The company figured putting a kid behind the wheel (or control sticks or whatever) wasn’t the smartest of ideas, so instead of putting up one of those ‘You have to be at least this tall to pilot the giant mech’ signs, they went ahead and built a smaller version designed specifically for children!

Their Kid’s Walker comes in at around 5 1/4 feet tall (1.6 meters), weighs just under 400lbs and (thankfully!) features kid-friendly controls that limit the mech’s capabilities because let’s face it, you stick a kid in a powered exoskeleton suit and his problem with bullies are over. The Kid’s Walker technically doesn’t really ‘walk’ either, but shuffles along on a pair of wheel-equipped feet kind of like someone learning to use roller skates, but again, it’s all to keep kids safe. The cost of the suit is estimated to be around $21,000, though Sakakibara Kikai has no plans to put it into production. The last thing the world needs is shopping malls full of exoskeleton-equipped mallrats, that’s for sure.

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